Waterfox

What's new in this version:

Waterfox 56.2.3
- Waterfox has been patched with all the latest ESR security fixes.
- There is now a complete backup of all classic add-ons from the Mozilla Add-On Store, mirrored on the Waterfox CDN. You can use the Classic add-on Archive add-on to view the catalogue. This will be integrated into the next Waterfox version.

Waterfox now has a unique identifier in its user agent, but in a way that shouldn't confuse sniffers:
- Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT x.y; Win64; x64; rv:56.0; Waterfox) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/56.2.3
- Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X x.y; rv:56.0; Waterfox) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/56.2.3
- Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:56.0; Waterfox) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/56.2.3


Waterfox 56.2.2
- Change log not available for this version


Waterfox 56.2.1
- Small security fix


Waterfox 56.2.0
View changes:
Mozilla Foundation Security Advisories patched:
- 2018-11
- 2018-10

General Desktop:
- Remove Google Play Services from Android (will now be able to add to F-Droid!)
- Stylo is now built, but disabled by default
- Rust components are now built with optimisations
- Updated various media codecs
- Back ported performance improvements for JavaScript (should now stop the high CPU usage!)

Tested a new way to keep Waterfox components up to date with the release branch of Firefox (includes security and performance upgrades for the components):
- Freetype2
- Skia
- svg.context-properties.content.enabled is now true by default
- Fingerprint option now disguises Waterfox as Firefox 60

Website Updates:
- Downloads now take you to a proper downloads page, with Portable download link fixed!
- Downloads archive will also be on this page (just re-uploading it all)


Waterfox 56.1.0
Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory Patches:
- 2018-08
- 2018-06

General Desktop:
- Stylo is now enabled and built for Waterfox on all Desktop platforms
- Cookie prompt has been removed until it is fixed properly
- The new about:preferences interfact has been fixed, can be enabled via browser.preferences.useOldOrganization
- Profile import has been re-architected
- You can now Refresh your profile at about:support!
- Update various media codecs
- Disable the add-ons discovery pane
- Disable attempted telemetry ping to nowhere
- Enable support for input type=date and type=time
- Show punycode by default to prevent phishing

Windows:
- Fixed playback issues on Windows that utilise the WMF decoder
- If you have issues with setting the default browser, re-download and use the Installer

What's coming up:
- Integration of a classic add-on catalogue within about:addons
- Re-implement Cookie Prompt
- Include libc++-static to support Mac OS X 10.6
- Remove Google Play Services from Android to add it to the F-Droid store
- Port over various 57 WebExtension APIs that didn't make it into 56

Waterfox 56.0.4
Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory Patches:
- 2018-02
- 2018-05
- Update default search for some platforms. Feel free to use it or Ecosia, whichever you prefer to support Waterfox

Waterfox 56.0.3
- Fixed incorrect update file being delivered to < Waterfox 56 users
- Fixes for default browser detection
- Enable e10s, disable e10s-multi for add-ons marked as incompatible. If you have issues with any add-ons, disable e10s completely
- Removed “e10s - (PID)” label from tabs

Waterfox 56.0.2
- e10s will now be disabled when using add-ons that aren’t marked explicitly as compatible with e10s
- If you’d like to force enable e10s, you can by setting browser.tabs.remote.force-enable to true in about:config. Warning: This may cause the add-on or the browser to behave unexpectedly
- Updated libcubeb library to prevent audio issues on new Windows 10 builds, Bug 1426719

Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory Patches:
- Fix default browser check (Thanks to jdunn0)
- Fix plugin issues due to checking .mozilla instead of .waterfox (Thanks to PhantomX)
- Fix of various white space issues thanks to jbeich

Waterfox 56.0.1
- Change log not available for this version

Waterfox 56.0
IMPORTANT! WATERFOX NOW USES ITS OWN PROFILE LOCATION:
- Waterfox now uses its own profile directory. If you have updated from an automatic update, you will get a prompt to import your data to this new location after restarting the browser post update.
- As much of your data will try to be kept as possible. Location on macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Waterfox.
- If you use a different than default location for Firefox, you should be able to just update the profile.ini in the new Waterfox profile location to carry on using that location.

New:
- Waterfox will now remain at 56 for the time being, following the security releases of 59 ESR until it becomes End of Line (Q1 2019). In the meanwhile, a “new” browser will be developed to follow the ethos of Waterfox of customisation and choice, while staying up to do date with the rapidly evolving browser landscape.
- Based on Firefox 56.0.2 release.
- Fixed GUI rendering issues on macOS High Sierra.
- Fixed search suggestions not appearing.
- Enabled e10s by default, some add-ons that aren’t marked as compatible may cause unexpected behaviour.
- Cookie Prompt has been re-implemented thanks to Savarese.Org: Firefox used to allow you to be notified every time a Web site attempted to set a cookie. You could decide to accept or reject the cookie as well as specify the cookie lifetime and whether to use your choice for all cookies from the Web site, thereby updating your cookie preferences.

Security patches from 57 release:
- Bug 1261175, Bug 1325923, Bug 1339259, Bug 1365894, Bug 1366420, Bug 1369561, Bug 1370497, Bug 1375146, Bug 1383019, Bug 1384121, Bug 1387799, Bug 1387845, Bug 1394031, Bug 1394265, Bug 1394530, Bug 1395138, Bug 1397811, Bug 1399540, Bug 1399922, Bug 1400003, Bug 1400554, Bug 1401339, Bug 1401804, Bug 1402363, Bug 1402876, Bug 1402896, Bug 1403646, Bug 1404636, Bug 1406154, Bug 1406398, Bug 1406750, Bug 1407032, Bug 1407375, Bug 1407740, Bug 1407751, Bug 1408005, Bug 1408412, Bug 1408782, Bug 1408990, Bug 1411458, Bug 1412252

Waterfox 55.2.2
- Stop Mozilla from installing add-ons without user permission
- If these add-ons are already installed, they will be removed within a day of using the updated version

Waterfox 55.2.1
- Patched crash on Windows 7 systems, from 56.0.1 release
- Don’t build AUS Helper extension
- Disable Battery Status API for privacy reasons
- Update bundled search plugins to their OpenSearch equivalents where available
- Revert to Ecosia as default, while issues are resolved with Yahoo
- Update blocklist (extension, plugin and certificate)

Waterfox 55.2.0
- Patched security issues from 52.4 ESR/56 Release. (Mozilla Security Advisories)
- Linux: Switched to an older build environment for better compatibility of libraries
- Linux: No longer statically link libgcc
- Linux: Backported patches for issues with FreeType
- macOS: 10.13 has graphical issues with the GUI. Will wait for all patches to release before fixing in 56
- Android: Download APK or from Google Play Store (slight delay)
- Yahoo is now the default search partner, but you may still use Ecosia to support Waterfox

Waterfox 55.1.0.1
- Change log not available for this version

Waterfox 55.1.0
- Updated to Firefox 55.0.3 (Release Notes)
- Statically linked libstdc++ on Linux
- Added option to toggle Electrolysis in about:preferences > General
- Android release is ready! Just passing through the Google Play store and will submit request to go onto the F-Droid store
- Improved migration of profile to not copy over old profile
- Toggle some privacy options by removing Microsoft Family ’MITM’ and disable add-on metadata updates
- Added FINDX and updated Yahoo! URL

Waterfox 55.0.2
- Fixed an issue with missing label in about:dialog for language packs
- Reverted Yahoo partner URL until better solution found
- Note: If you are using Linux, you will need version 3.4.22 of libstdc++
- Windows builds are now available
- Updated to Firefox 55.0.2

Waterfox 54.0.0.1
- Disable building of pingsender executable
- Give users choice to use Google’s Widevine CDM for HTML5 EME/DRM. Note: No proprietary binaries are included by default, they are optionally downloaded in Preferences > Content

Waterfox 54.0
- Updated to Firefox 54.0 (Release Notes)
- Windows installer now lists Waterfox as publisher instead of Mozilla
- Language request now also change when a different locale is selected

Waterfox 53.0.3
Fixed:
- Fix hangs when using a proxy with NTLM authentication
- Fix excessive resource usage from the captive portal detection service

Changed:
- Bump preloaded security information expiration times

Waterfox 53.0.1
- Remove limitations for Windows XP/Vista users. Built targetting SUBSYSTEM:5.02 (Windows XP quits immediately on start, probably due to unsupported features on XP. Vista runs fine with various features disabled)
- Use built in OS location services. This will require permissions from your OS, which should ask when Waterfox tries to utilise the API (tested on Windows 7+ and macOS, will get MLS API key as well for unsupported systems)
- Fixed add-on corruption issue on add-ons with no manifest ID
- macOS builds are now available

Waterfox 53.0
- Updated to Firefox 53.0
- The Git repo now includes the mozilla-release commit history to allow easier merging
- Delay in macOS release as I’ve lost all of my private keys for my previous Apple Developer ID certs and am awaiting the 5 cert limit to be lifted. I’ve heard this can take a while so will try to push as I can’t make any new Mac ???? releases without one.
- NPAPI Plugins and unsigned extensions should still run

Waterfox 52.0.2
- Attempt to fix future issues with search engine getting replaced upon update. Unfortunately, your search preference will be edited with this update, but hopefully should stop getting overwritten with future updates.
- Fully gutted and removed slowStartup, BrowserUITelemetry & UITour, BrowserUsageTelemetry
- Update Git repository to include Mozilla commit history, old repo moved to Waterfox-old
- Updated to Firefox 52.0.2
- Disabled PulseAudio and enabled ALSA for Linux builds

Waterfox 52.0.1
- Updated to Firefox 52.0.1
- Fixed about:home CSS
- Fixed Netflix/Amazon Prime Video/Chase website issues by spoofing Firefox 38 user agent for those sites
- Enabled various HTML5 features

Waterfox 52.0
- Temporarily reverted to MSVC on Windows
- Updated to Firefox 52.0
- Removed 64-Bit NPAPI Flash only limiation
- Pulled changes that fixed various issues with telemetry, startup performance and more. Big thanks to PandaCodex for their contributions!
- There is a small bug on about:home with the logo being misplaced which I’ll make sure is resolved in a small bug fix update.

Waterfox 51.0.1
- Fixed painting issues on Windows
- Updated to Firefox 51.0.1

Waterfox 51.0
- Updated to Firefox 51 codebase
- Quality of Life feature: Select your language from Options (Preferences) > General > Locale! Language are now automatically bundled with Waterfox
- Quality of Life feature: Duplicate Tabs! Right Click and Select Duplicate Tab to access this feature
- Switched to O3 flag when compiling on macOS
- Disabled offline archiving of telemetry data

Waterfox 50.1.0
- Security updates
- Utilised Windows 10 SDK when building instead of 8.1 SDK for Windows builds
- Issues with Windows NT 5.2 (XP era) systems are being looked into

Waterfox 50.0.2
- Critical security updates, immediate update recommended

Waterfox 50.0
- Waterfox is now built with Clang-cl thanks to the great progress made in the winclang bug

Waterfox 49.0.3
- Updated codebase to Firefox 49.0.2

Waterfox 49.0.2
- Removed remaining Mozilla pingback URLs
- Set minimum supported version for OS X to 10.6 (not guaranteed to run)
- Fixed ICU reverting back to 56.1, now at 57.1 again
- Removed graphics from empty snippet box on home page

Waterfox 49.0.1
- Tor browser anonymity features were meant to be in this release but will be pushed back to the next release
- Windows XP 64-Bit may have issues running the latest version, this is being looked into
- Updated codebase to Firefox 49.0.1

Waterfox 48.0.2
- Update codebase to Firefox 48.0.2
- Adobe Flash 23 Beta should resolve “Context3D Not Available!” issue

Waterfox 48.0.1
- Temporarily reverted to Visual Studio 2015 due to some graphical issues with Clang.
- Implemented patch for Bug 1283274 - Avoid the wmode windowed -> opaque Flash workaround when we detect Flash async drawing support
- Fix wrong profile location on OS X.

Waterfox 48.0
- Switched to Clang for Windows compilation. Things look much more promising than previous reports and stability seems good. Please report any issues and I’ll file bugzilla reports as this will help out Mozilla as well ???? This is a promising step to using a completely free/open-source build environment!
- Reverted Registry Entries to be the same location as Mozilla’s so 3rd party programs like Roboform can work again (might need to re-install Roboform or Waterfox again for example)
- Another attempt to fix unsigned extensions from not running. So hopefully they will now!